Dr. Albain and the SWOG team conducted the S0424 trial, which studied 981 patients newly diagnosed with stage I, II or III NSCLC, and grouped them into 4 cohorts based on sex and smoking history. Then, they analyzed data on cancer stage, patients’ tumor types and mutations, hormonal influences, treatment plans, and survival rates. Patients were followed for 5 years or until their death to determine their overall survival. S0424 is the first prospective trial of this scope for NSCLC, designed specifically to follow survival outcomes.

Key Findings

Regardless of smoking history or any other factor, women in the S0424 trial had significantly better overall survival rates than men. The analysis found that female never-smokers and female ever-smokers had significantly better overall survival than male never-smokers and male ever-smokers. Five-year estimates reported overall survival at 73% for female never-smokers, 69% for female ever-smokers, 58% for male never-smokers, and 52% for male ever-smokers.

“Women with NSCLC live longer, even when we control for every factor that might influence survival in NSCLC, including tobacco and other exposures, lifestyle factors, disease stage, treatment, tumor biology, and hormonal factors,” Dr. Albain said. “Additional study is needed to further investigate favorable survival for women in this population, and our large clinical trials need to be equally balanced for women.”

The content in this post has not been reviewed by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc. (ASCO®) and does not necessarily reflect the ideas and opinions of ASCO®.